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I did my winter skills course a couple of years ago but haven’t really had the chance to practice any winter skills since. There are worse places than Edinburgh to spend lockdown and I have had some fantastic snowy days out in the Pentlands but they are not exactly ice axe territory. I didn’t really expect my first full on winter mountain experience to happen in May but I suppose that’s Scotland for you. It’s been a very cold spring then this week there was fresh snowfall on the tops.
I fancied a nice outing and thought Stob Binnein plus or minus Ben More would be relatively straightforward since I was going on my own (well, I would have Meg the dog with me but she lacks navigation ability even if she does have in-built crampons). I wondered about doing it as a run at first but was put off by the recent snow plus the initial part of the ascent looked unrunnable. And you can carry more stuff hiking including a decent lunch and thermos. I also packed warm clothes, a bivvy shelter, axe and micro spikes. I don't have winter boots and crampons (yet) so knew I'd need to turn around if it was icy.
At the start on the path there’s a memorial stone for a young guy who died on Stob Binnein which certainly gives you pause.
As I set off up the steep slope I felt vindicated in my decision to hike. This was a completely unrunnable gradient. I wasn’t sure I fancied coming back down it being towed by an excited springer spaniel either so started thinking about the alternative route back down the glen to the west. At this point I heard the pitter patter of innov8’s behind me and got overtaken by a runner who hadn’t even broken sweat. I reclassified the ascent from “unrunnable” to “unrunnable for menopausal hill runners who have spent lockdown eating too much home baking”.
The first mile or so was pretty steep then eased off. A man came hiking down and said he’d turned back due to the weather looking grim. He looked fit and very well equipped so I added that to the memorial stone and told myself that turning back is never the wrong decision. Especially on your first winter conditions mountain hike by yourself.
We reached the snow line soon after with the usual “do I or don’t I stop and put spikes on” going on. I figured it was the right time when I asked myself whether I would fancy a slip at this particular point and answered with a resounding NO! It was snowing too so time to get the jacket back on as well. Meg was having a wonderful time rolling around and digging snow holes so all seemed fine in her world.
After a bit of unpleasant blizzarding the clouds cleared leaving a good view of the route to the top and also the surrounding mountains. Just magnificent. It was pretty easy until the final approach. The path was hidden under deep snow and the best route wasn’t that obvious. I followed the innov8 footprints but felt a bit precarious at points and wondered whether to swap poles for axe. Unfortunately I’d made the mistake of packing the axe in the rucksack rather than having it in a side pocket where I could easily grab it. Lesson learned. Then quite abruptly we were at the summit cairn so I took a photo of Meg. I tried to get her to pose looking triumphant and noble beside the cairn but instead got a blurry shot of her in a patch of snow looking dim.
2A02BC73-DE4D-4E03-870D-2A28F5814688 by
Nicola Dunn, on Flickr
9AB4DD26-923A-4851-8CA3-5C7530B7B8CF by
Nicola Dunn, on Flickr
Now the decision of whether to bash on and get Ben More too. This was a no brainer. It was right there in front of me and looked pretty easy. Let’s go!
Once down at the bealach I stopped for some tea and a snickers. Ben More looked a bit less easy from this angle. I also sussed out the start of the route down west into the glen which looked rough but doable.
Setting off again the path was under wet snow which balled up under my spikes. It was really quite steep. I suddenly started to feel a bit odd and stopped. Looking back at Stob Binnein I estimated I was maybe half way to the top of Ben More and looking up revealed vey black clouds. I did a bit of a check in. Legs – tick. Both still attached, a little tired but definitely capable of getting me up. But then I’d have to get back down then hike over potentially nasty terrain into the valley. Hmm. Dog – showing definite signs of anxiety and maybe a bit cold. I really did not need a canine malfunction on a 45 degree snow slope. Head – actually not in the game any more. Since I was alone and not bagging summits anyway I reckoned Ben More could wait and turned and picked my way back down again to the bealach.
3F3C1623-0D6C-4B19-95B9-8BF2E9D7B971 by
Nicola Dunn, on Flickr
From there I headed west and made a very slow descent as it was all a bit of a slippery jumble of wet snow drifts, hidden bogs and holes. There was a short spell where I definitely stopped having fun but fortunately got down below the snow line without mishap. The threatening weather had gone and I found a beautiful spot beside a cascading burn to sit in the sunshine and have lunch. Meg somehow managed to extort most of my cheese sandwich off me by pretending to be starving to death. It seemed incredible to go from battling through a blizzard to basking in the sun within the space of a couple of hours. There was a huge glacial erratic further down which made a good landmark to head for.
0E8A0247-205F-4BAC-ADBF-6FD417943803 by
Nicola Dunn, on Flickr
E8F17D0B-CBCD-4E8A-A6F3-E27F6A763DEA by
Nicola Dunn, on Flickr
I thoroughly enjoyed the hike back down Glen Inverlochlarig, it was peaceful, sunny and warm. I didn't need to concentrate on every step or worry about playing a starring roll on a MRT Facebook page. I could just soak up the sunshine and....SPLAT. Typically I then had my one fall of the day because I wasn't watching where I put my feet. Luckily Scottish bog gives a nice soft surface for landing on. I love reading about mountaineering and would happily watch the film Everest on a loop (my family don’t quite understand why I like watching men with beards fall off mountains or die of exposure but it’s all so heroic and yet so futile!) but I don’t think I am a natural mountaineer at all, perhaps I am too risk averse to really enjoy the experience! I definitely like my hills to be of the rolling variety. Nevertheless it was a great day out and I may yet invest in some good winter boots.